Ctenomyidae Lesson 1842

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Ctenomyidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1560-1570 : 1560

Ctenomyidae Lesson 1842

Ctenomyidae Lesson 1842 , Nouv. Tabl. Regn. Anim. Mammiferes: 105.

Genera: 1 genus with 60 species:

Genus Ctenomys Blainville 1826 (60 species with 27 subspecies)

Discussion: This assemblage of approximately 85 named taxa is still in need of revision. The species are variable in chromosome number (2n=10-70), but fairly uniform in morphology, suggesting that the major radiation of species was in the Pleistocene ( Roig and Reig, 1969; Reig et al., 1990 b). Cook and Lessa (1998) and Lessa and Cook (1998) suggested an early burst in diversification. Ctenomys is most closely allied to Octodontomys . Whether the group should be recognized as a subfamily (Ctenomyinae, Reig, 1958), or as a family is debated. Although recognition as a subfamily within the Octodontidae best reflects the evolutionary history of this group, it is more common to treat the group as a distinct family specialized for fossorial life. McKenna and Bell (1997) considered it a tribe within the Octodontinae. Glanz and Anderson (1990) gave a cladogram and list of synapomorphies for the Ctenomyidae . Reig et al. (1990 b) suggested that there might be as many as 55 living species. Here 60 species are recognized, many primarily based on descriptions of unique karyotypes in allopatric populations. In addition, several undescribed forms appear to represent distinct species ( Anderson, 1997; Giménez et al. 1999; Lessa and Cook, 1998; Massarini et al., 1991 a). See Reig et al. (1990 b) for an overview of ctenomyid taxonomy and Reig et al. (1992), Ortells (1995), and Bidau et al. (1996) for a review of karyotypic variation. The importance of chromosomal rearrangements in the speciation of Ctenomyids was suggested by Reig (1989) and Reig et al. (1990); Rossi et al. (1990, 1995) suggested a possible mechanism for the extensive rearrangements. See also Cook et al. (1990) for a discussion of the possible significance of the extensive chromosomal variation in Ctenomys and octodontids (2n=10-102), which is nearly as great as the known variation for all mammals. Sage et al. (1986 a) characterized this genus as being in a state of "taxonomic chaos", though progress has been made in recent years in the study of several species groups using banded karyotypes ( Gallardo, 1991; Ortells, 1995), protein electrophoresis ( Cook and Yates, 1994; Gallardo and Kohler, 1992; Gallardo and Palma, 1992; Moreira et al., 1991; Ortells and Barrantes, 1994), and DNA sequencing (D’Elía et al., 1999; Lessa and Cook, 1998).